DOS PALOS – You’ve heard it before, seen it in movies, maybe imagined or even rehearsed it for yourself: Bottom of the ninth inning, two outs, you can win it right now with one hit … crack! The crowd goes wild, and your teammates rush out to celebrate.
“Yeah, I imagine those situations,” said Tevin Clay, who finally got to live it for himself. And he didn’t waste any time at the plate, either, fulfilling that dream.
With Quinton Herrera on first base and Jaxon Soares on second, two outs, bottom of the seventh (a regulation game in high school is 7 innings instead of 9), Clay seized on the first pitch and sent it to shallow right center to lift the Dos Palos High baseball team to a thrilling 7-6 playoff win Friday against East Bakersfield.
The walkoff came courtesy of the speedy Soares, who also had seized on the first pitch with a liner to left to start the rally with one out. Then Herrera followed with a hopper up the middle to get Soares into scoring position.
That set the stage for Clay, who seemingly leapt 10 feet high as he rounded first and turned to see Soares stepping on home plate.
“Yeah, felt better than I thought it was,” Clay said. “I just had so much adrenaline.”
Soares, Herrera and Clay – all sophomores – provided the epic conclusion to this Central Section Division V playoff game, but it took a lot of grit from everyone.
The visiting Blades, who came in as the No. 9 seed, got off to a hot start against the eighth-seeded Broncos thanks to a 4-run first inning against Trevin Vincent.
“Yeah, they came out swinging,” coach Brent Jones said. “We should’ve made a couple plays behind him. Could’ve been just 2-nothing. But we didn’t panic.”
Vincent, though, found himself in a jam in the fifth as the Blades had loaded the bases with two outs.
Another dream scenario for a pitcher, working out of a jam if you can get the chance, but Jones called for a visit to the mound. After the brief huddle, Jones walked back to the dugout, and Vincent remained on the hill.
“I just wanted to calm him down, catch his breath,” Jones said. “We got a lot of confidence in Trevin. He’s my senior. He’s a dog. He’s my guy.”
Vincent proceeded with three consecutive strikes, catching the East Bakersfield pinch-hitter looking at high heat for the strikeout to keep the score tied at 5-all.
It had gotten that way after the Blades tacked on a run in the third to go up 5-0. But Dos Palos (15-4) responded with a 5-run outburst in the bottom half.
“We strung a couple of hits together,” said Chaz Merrell, who scored that inning. “We just jumped all over the guy.”
But East Bakersfield (14-7) remained persistent, finally chasing Vincent off the mound with a leadoff double to left center in the sixth. Jones opted for Soares, who did allow a run (charged to Vincent) to score before inducing a 5-4-3, inning-ending double play.
Then Clay, Vincent and Merrell got even.
Clay led off the sixth with a slow roller that took a funny hop to elude the first baseman. Vincent hit a sacrifice grounder to get Clay to second, and Merrell drove him in with a single to right to again knot the score heading to the dramatic final inning.
But it wasn’t over after the triumphant finish.
Clay (2 for 3 with a walk, 2 RBIs, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases) had to avoid teammates trying to douse him with a Gatorade bucket and then a gray cooler as they were lining up for the postgame pleasantries.
The elusive Clay avoided a third attempt after the handshakes but nearly tripped over the cooler.
Thankfully uninjured amid the shenanigans, Clay and the Broncos turned their attention to Vincent as the team sang “Happy Birthday” to celebrate his 18th.
“I’m enjoying the moment,” Coach Jones said. “Crazy game right there.”
Things ultimately had to turn to the second-round matchup against top-seeded Shafter (17-6) in a game played Tuesday
“I’m so proud of the kids, and we get to play again,” said Jones, who kept his expectations simple. “Just go 1-0 on Tuesday. That’s it.”
Other offensive contributors included Quinton Herrera (3 for 4, stolen base), Gilbert Ramirez (2 for 4 with a double, RBI, run, stolen base), Osiris Navarro (2-run single, run) and Gannon Hurd (RBI single).
